The team was awarded three gold medals and one silver medal. Jon Zajac, assistant coach, went with the team to Valley Forge to coach them and help them in the competition.

To prepare for the lifting competition, the team performed specific Olympic lifts and power lifts. These are the lifts that they will be doing in the competition. They started preparing weeks before so they could get the forms down perfect and be ready for the competition.

“What we lack in size, we make up in strength,” said Russ McDonnell. The team practices three to four days a week; they will lift for about an hour to and hour and a half for each day they lift.

They lift sometimes before school or after school, showing real commitment to the team. By winning the competition, the team was also awarded an Olympic weightlifting set that was donated by the Werksan Barbell USA company, which will be added to the weight room soon.

McDonnell, who is the head coach of the team, has been the weight lifting coach at Penn Manor for nine years now.